LONDON:UK house prices rose at their slowest pace for seven months in October in the latest sign of a cooling housing market.Average house prices increased by just 0.1% from the previous month to £271,000, the slowest growth since March, when prices fell by 0.4%, according to the Office for National Statistics.
House price inflation measured on an annual basis cooled to 10.4% from a seven-year high of 12.1% in September.Brian Murphy, head of lending at Mortgage Advice Bureau, said: “House prices have experienced a slight slowdown in recent months, with seasonal variations as well as tighter mortgage regulation reining in property prices. However, average prices are still well up on last year, with the UK as a whole experiencing double-digit growth.”Excluding London and the south-east, where house prices are rising at the fastest rates, prices grew by 6.7% in the year to October, the ONS said.London house prices soared by 17.2% in the 12 months to October, although this was a slowdown compared with 18.8% growth in the year to September. The average price of a house in the capital has fallen by about £10,000 since August, and was £504,000 in October – the highest of any region in England.
